Melanie Pringle

Melanie Pringle is a North Carolina native whose path to WGS has been neither straight nor narrow. She grew up in the Triangle and graduated from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in 2005. She moved to the Triad to attend Guilford College, where she received a BA in Music ‐ Vocal Performance and a BA in Spanish in 2009. Guilford provided her with a formative education that encouraged equity, social justice, and community mindfulness when engaging in the world both personally and professionally. After working four years in various service positions for Forsyth County, including the animal shelter, a library branch, and the health department, she decided to return to school to gain the qualifications to work in her interest areas. She began the MS/Eds School Counseling program at UNCG from 2013‐ 2014, but realized that this path ultimately would not allow her to do the type of work she wanted. Working as a graduate assistant at the UNCG Center for Women’s Health and Wellness helped her to reinvigorate her passion for feminism and social justice, so she transitioned to the WGS program in Fall 2014. She is interested in reproductive justice, body image and physical embodiment, and the influence of the media and popular culture in shaping physical and sexual identity, particularly among teenagers. Melanie desires to become a certified sexuality educator and do community advocacy and education around healthy teenage sexuality. She would also like to find a way to incorporate her love and talent for music into her social justice work.